A/N: To those still reading, thanks for sticking with me. As always, huge, major thanks to poka for the encouragement and reviews. I know this series is complicated, especially with the time travel. Hopefully it will all pay off in the end.

Chapter 11: The Traveler and the Half Blood

Friday, July 3 1998 | The North Sea

Waves crashed against the side of the tiny boat. Tom was hesitant to use a spell to speed up the effort to row or to place shield around him to protect him from the freezing water. He didn't know if a spell cast would alert the guards and wasn't about to be apprehended in his current condition. It was humiliating to be carried about in a pouch. He understood why Greengrass would choose the shrinking solution. It was actually a genius solution. Still. Maybe he'd kill the first person he came across just to make up for the insults. There were many insults to avenge. He might just help Greengrass along the way. He had decisions to make. Once he had the time tuner he leave this place, this time. It wasn't redeemable as far as he was concerned. He could grow some followers but it wouldn't do him any good if he was imprisoned for the rest of his life. No. He'd fix the past to make himself a better future. And he'd teach Hermione Granger some lessons along the way.

For the moment, he put all his rage into the act of rowing. Each time the paddle hit the water he pulled the wood handles back toward him with violent force. His eyes were focused straight ahead. He just needed to see lights. Then he could take the reversal potion and reclaim control. Looking back, the looming fortress was barely visible over the waves. He had to be close. The current shifted and started to push him forward. Pulling the oars in, Tom gripped the reversal potion. He stood, hoping to get a better vantage point to see the shore. The boat wobbled at the movement. "Come on," he hissed. It was a matter of time before the guards found his empty cell. The cover of night and the shrunken size might buy him a bit of time if they started a full blown search. He couldn't be sure there wasn't a lock down procedure that would trap him in the boundaries of the enchantments.

Then he saw it. The harbor. He passed through a haze, and it came into sharp focus. Tom enlarged the boat with the wand. The hull shot up around him causing water to surge outward and up. The sea rushed in around his tiny form. In one swift motion, he took the potion. His body returned to normal in a blink. The water that had been threatening to drown him was now ankle deep. Without hesitation, he turned on the spot.

~~/~~

Hermione was having trouble keeping her eyes open. She should head to bed. That required her to stand and walk up the stairs. The couch looked comfortable. She knew that it was. That was the first thing they had transfigured when she, Harry, and Ron had been hiding out in the old Black Manor. She had slept there her first night on the run. Exhaustion had as much to do with her sleep that night as the transfigured cushions. With so many people coming and going, sleeping in a public space wasn't a practical solution. Everyone was making an effort to stay out of her way. It was all still awkward. Leaning back in her chair, she tested her back. The reaction throughout her scars seemed to be entirely cleared up. The pain relieving potions may have been keeping any lingering effects at bay. She should stretch. Before she could stand, she heard the back door open. It wasn't shift change. Figuring it was just Ron coming in for a snack, Hermione looked down at her parchment. She could finish up her last few reports and then relax in her room. Just as her quill tip made contact with the paper she heard a knock at the open door. She wasn't expecting to see Harry.

He stood stiffly at the threshold. He was trying not to crowd her space. Trying not to enter it without permission. "Sorry. It's late," he started.

Hermione waved him in. She wanted to address the distance, give him permission to stop seeking permission. It was not a simple conversation. Assuming he was stopping by to check on the security she knew it wasn't the time, then she saw he had his wand out. "What happened?"

Harry motioned toward the couch. "Can we sit? I won't keep you long."

The shortness of his words hurt even if she understood the reason for it. Swallowing, joined him at the couch, "You're scaring me."

Taking in a deep breath, he offered a look of apology. "I know. I wanted to be the one to tell you… Tom escaped."

A buzzing in her ears exploded. She saw his lips were still moving. She didn't hear another word. Her brain had been preparing for that moment, even if she didn't know what it was preparing for, now that they time had come it prepared for action without out an apparent action to take. Adrenaline rushed through her. "How?" she finally asked, not knowing if he had already answered the question.

The look on his face told her he didn't want to explain.

"Harry. How?" Fear was gripping her throat. It was hard to breathe.

"Sadie. Partially. We're still trying to work it out. Someone switched her potions. She didn't do it alone and we think a guard helped him but we're not sure why or if he was just influenced by the Legilimens." He looked angry and frustrated. Underneath all of it was fear. "We're not sure when she got her abilities back." He swallowed hard. "She was alone with Bellatrix today. We put them both in the general population for recreation time."

Hermione stood, went to her desk and pulled open the drawers. They might not have a lot of time.

He stood with her. "Where are you going?"

She was already gathering up her beaded bag. Making sure she had her mokeskin pouch. The suit was in the time chamber. There was plenty of memory potion too. Snape and Fiona should take an extra dose of the protection. Harry's hand on her arm got her attention. "To the time chamber. He's going for the time turner. Sadie would have gotten Bellatrix to confess where she stashed the time turner, I'm sure of it. If Sadie knows and has her abilities, Tom knows."

"The unspeakables are in there."

She stopped him with a sharp glance and then softened. "I can't be out here. If he breaks time, I have to be inside the event horizon."

Acceptance flashed in his green eyes. He dug in his ruck sack and pulled out his invisibility cloak first and then their engagement ring. "Take these with you. You don't have to wear the ring… just keep it with you. In case you need a reminder. Of us."

The lily ring gleamed in the light. Reaching for it, Hermione covered her hand over his. She stepped into him and pulled him into a kiss, felt him respond despite the distance that had grown between them. He pulled her closer. His embrace was so tight she could feel his heart beat against hers. When she pulled back, she searched his eyes, trying to see beyond the hurt. Hoping they could mend the damage she created. If they managed to survive whatever came next. "I won't let Tom win. The prophecy isn't our future. He's not going to kill you in the past."

There were too many things to say. Too many unknowns. "Please," he started and had to stamp down the emotions roiling within him. He took her right hand and traced the scar on her palm. "I know you're willing to sacrifice your life for mine. Please, try to find a way to save us. "

"I will. I promise. I'm sorry for everything…" she said, stepped back and put the ring safely in the pouch that would protect it from any changes to the timeline. Hermione held his eyes before turning on the spot and apparated inside the time chamber. It took her a second to adjust to the sudden change. She breathed out in relief to be inside the event horizon. Her greatest fear had been not having enough notice to get there.

Humphrey looked up in annoyance. "If you're going to waste your time in here, I don't need to stay." The wizard started to rise.

"Stay," she commanded. "Something's happening. You need to stay in case it's what we think it is." Turning away from the wizard, her wand was out. She summoned a familiar timeline from a tempus tome. Tom Riddle. She didn't think anything was going to change along his threads even if he got the time turner. Tapping the tip of her wand in the palm of her hand, she tried to anticipate what was going to happen. Tom had no reason to stay in the present. If he did know where the time turner was, he'd go right to it. Closing her eyes, she repeated the prophecies in her head.

One will become two... ior will mark the end of the beginning, but beware the end is just beginning... The traveler will hold the secret to the dark lord's downfall.

Two will become one again when the past and future collide... The traveler will decide which one will survive… each must die at the other's hand.

When the dark lord rises again a muggle-born will challenge him. Nevertheless time will be the true enemy of both. When memories change, the traveler must meet the half blood in the shack where this began.

"What began at the shrieking shack?" she asked out loud. Humphrey ignored her. The battle for the Order headquarters? That was the only event she knew of. Maybe history knew more. With a wave of her wand, she requested a timeline of the place in history. As the lines and text erupted in the air, the ground shook under her feet. Turning on the spot, she saw the unspeakable's eyes were wide in surprise.

"What did you do?" he asked.

"I didn't do that—" she fired back but was cut off by a violent explosion of pressure and quaking. In horror, she watched Humphrey pitch backward, falling into the event horizon behind him. As his head and shoulders passed through the boundary, flesh disintegrated. His body collapsed, his chest and lower body still within the time chamber. She covered her mouth with her hand. There was nothing she could do for him. There was no opportunity to process the trauma or to recover. The timeline behind her expanded outward. Changes to the past were tangled up, so many it was impossible to make sense of any of it. It happened. Time was broken. Her knees grew weak as panic welled up inside her. She sat on the ground, unable to process the new reality she knew was rippling outward into the future.

She had no time. And all the time. As long as she stayed inside the event horizon she'd be unaffected. The only threat was someone gaining access to the chamber. It had to be a consideration. She couldn't stay there indefinitely. She also couldn't just jump wildly back in time. She might have an idea of the date but didn't know the place. Taking two deep breaths, she stood, surveyed the chamber. The cabinet was still there, everything she needed to protect herself. Memory potion, the swooping shadow scale suit, the time turners. They planned for this.

Quickly slipping on the suit over her clothes she knew it wasn't completely tested. If she left the time chamber and the Hermione in the current timeline no longer existed, she could just disappear. Remembering the vision of Snape comforting the traveling in the Shrieking Shack emboldened her. It would work. It had to. She needed to know precisely when time changed, where the event took place, and only one person knew. The tangled web of changes spinning in the air would take days or weeks to sort out, Snape could give her everything she needed to know.

When time is broken, only two will know the truth and only one can make it right. Love chosen will save the mother's love given.

Snape would have been taking the potion. How it was possible that the effects could last in the new future was paradox she accepted. She knew Snape had the time protected safe. As long as he was under the influence of the memory potion when time changed, he'd know about the safe and the potion. He'd have two lifetimes of memories.

Once her body was protected, she knew she needed to protect her mind. Her hand shook as she brought the memory potion bottle to her lips. Giving it time to work, she didn't feel different. There would be no do overs when she left the protections around her. Swallowing hard, she pulled out the enchanted messenger bag. Filling it with more memory potion in the front pockets. There was one more resource she needed. A Tempus Semita specifically designed to track the changes that mattered most. It would give her the ability to check the status of the future once she was in the past and it would be the only proof she could provide that showed she hadn't violated the law with her act to correct the past. What could she track that would satisfy both requirements?

Her mouth went dry when the answer came to her. Harry. Harry was certainly dead. Before he was even born. It might not be the exact event that initiated the disaster unfolding in the past, it would be a key node. Using the spells Fiona taught her, a book appeared on the podium in front of her. Events, information, words were absorbed from the timeline above it. Pages were magically added to accommodate the volume of information needed. Letting the spell work, she tried to calm herself. In a way, it was a relief the event she that had terrified since she touched the prophecy had finally happened. Much of her anxiety was in anticipating it, worrying she wouldn't be in the right place at the right time.

Finally the tome stopped rocking. Doubling it, she stored the copy in the locker, wanting to make sure there was a protected copy of it in case the enchanted bag wasn't able to fully protect the pages from changing time. Next to it on the shelf was her time turner. Should she take it with her? Or keep it protected until she knew when she was going? Concerned something might change after she apparated out of the event horizon, she stowed it in the bag. It was a calculated risk. The other time turner was still in the locker. It would be a back up if needed. Not one that would return her to the future. Hermione knew there would be no future to return to if she didn't stop Tom.

Stepping back, Hermione took in the room one last time. Humphrey's body reminding her that lives depended on what she did next. Putting her druid vine wand in the mokeskin pouch, she couldn't afford to lose it. Her replacement wand would have to do. Then she turned on the spot, apparating to the Shrieking Shack. The pain in her head was instant. It sent her to her knees. If there was any threat present she wasn't just incapable of defending herself, she couldn't see the threat. Her vision wavered. For a brief second, she thought she had been hit in the head by a reductor curse. Then the memories flooded her. Events playing out differently. Events that never happened. And then they did. New memories were pushed to the front, old memories were a distant mirage. She felt the loss of her parents, killed by death eaters. Tom torturing her. The terrible life she experienced. Hermione was so lost in the miasma descending on her in her mind, she didn't hear Snape approach. Something warm covered her, she heard him whisper to her.

"Don't fight it. It gets easier."

A cool rag wiped away sweat from her forehead. She didn't know how it was possible she could be sweating. The cold growing within her, the hopelessness and emptiness, it was consuming her. Hermione closed her eyes to stop the visions. The action did nothing. Flashes from the life of Hermione Granger, undesirable number one, were relentless. As they played out, she waited for the moment of her death. She welcomed it to end the suffering. And then Snape was there. In her memory much like he was there in her present. Taking her away from her nightmare. Caring for her in the sanctuary Albus made for her. Her brain couldn't unravel that paradox. She didn't have the energy to work it out. She let darkness claim her.

~~/~~

The wind whipped through the dilapidated walls. Snape didn't dare put up any magical protections that could be detected. Staying off the radar in that moment was the most important action he had ever taken. In either timeline. He had half a mind to take her back to the hidden room in his library. Forming a mattress under Hermione and making himself a chair, Snape sat. He rubbed his temples, trying to push back his own lingering pain. They hadn't been wrong. Sorting through two decades of new memories was difficult. To say the least. The new horrors in his mind were consuming him. He knew Hermione needed time to recover. He didn't think time was a luxury anyone had. Leaning closer, he ran his fingers over her forehead. The heat was dissipating. She was about thirty minutes behind him. "Hermione," he whispered. The sound bounced off the walls despite his efforts to muffle them.

He heard her groan.

"Hermione. I am sorry. We can't linger here."

Her eyelids fluttered. Then they shut tight. Trying to ward off the dark images she no doubt had to fight. "Professor."

The title sounded both familiar and foreign depending on the memories that were triggered. "Miss Granger. Tell me what happened." He knew her well enough to know she was at her best when she had a task.

Hermione's eyes flicked back and forth as she processed the most recent events. "I was in the time chamber when everything changed. The unspeakable inside was killed. Thrown into the event horizon."

It wasn't good news. There really were only two people who knew the world was wrong. And there was only one who could wield the tools needed to reverse it. "The time turners are unaffected?"

Sitting up, she swung her legs over the side of the mattress he made for her. The scales of her suit seemed to glow with the movement. A static pressed down on her. For a brief moment, she had to wonder if their protections might be temporary. With her years of new memories, she knew the scars and damage done to her body in this time were extensive. She didn't want to be present if the suit failed and her body was forced to take on that damage. "I have mine inside the protected bag. The other time turner is still in the time chamber. There are so many changes. I couldn't figure out what started it all. I couldn't figure out when to go back."

Snape smoothed out his robes. Unfortunately he knew the answer to that question. Having two memories of holding Lily's dead body was terrible state. He rubbed his eyes, trying to push the visions and emotions back inside his head. Even as he was success, there were plenty of other terrible sights to replace them. He needed to get Hermione on her way. The timeline they were currently in needed to never exist. "July fifteenth, nineteen eighty. You need to apparate to Charing Cross Road. Right outside the Leaky Cauldron. A fight starts within Diagon Alley that spills out into Muggle London. Lily was protecting a school group. Their transport was caught in the crossfire."

"Where was James?"

"Pinned down by Death Eaters. He thought he was protecting her flank. They were keeping him busy to give Voldemort the opening he needed."

"Voldemort? Not Tom?"

The question was complicated. He hadn't been there when the killing blow was made. He only knew what others said and the aftermath he saw. "Tom was there. I can't tell you exactly when he arrived in the past. He'd been there for at least a few weeks. Long enough to convince the Dark Lord to take his advice. Voldemort was the one who killed Lily, Harry, and James." Hermione rubbed at her temples as she processed the information. Snape produced a pain relieving potion. "This won't make it go away, but it will take the edge off."

She reached out for it, as her fingers wrapped around the small phial, her eyes grew distant. It was a position the two had been in, in this timeline, more times than either could count. Hermione in pain, Snape trying to ease it, not quite managing it completely. Swallowing down the lump rising in her throat, she lifted the potion from his hand.

"After Harry was killed, Voldemort was uninhibited. His focus on toppling the ministry was singular. Even then, it took him a decade to finally get complete control. The resistance persisted. They've been no match for the army that he's built.

"A lot of it is disjointed in my mind," she said as her eyes moved rapidly back and forth.

"Well, that's not surprising. At Tom's urging, your parents were killed the day you manifested your first magical ability. Albus managed to get to you in time. What you witnessed before he arrived was traumatizing."

"I remember he was very kind and I didn't know why. He never told me why he risked so much to hide me," she said as her hand flew up to her mouth the stifle the sob. Now that the events surrounding the day she met Albus were spoken about she couldn't stop them from replaying over and over.

Snape knew the clash of her warring memories would be hard to reconcile. "Needless to say, Voldemort never really understood why you were so important to Tom. You never went to Hogwarts. He never met you."

"How did Albus know?"

"He never explained fully. I think it was the time chamber. The unspeakables understood something significant had happened. They didn't have enough information to sort it out," Snape offered, considered his next words. Snape wasn't looking to be absolved of his sins. She deserved to know the full truth. Even if the world they were in would never come to be. "I informed Professor Dumbledore of Tom's obsession with you. It didn't appear to be a surprise to him, but he took action as soon as he could. The world was in chaos. That he didn't get there in time to save your parents weighed heavily on him." The conversations he and Dumbledore had had during the efforts to hold the ministry and school often led to Hermione. They speculated over why she had been so important to Tom. When Hogwarts finally fell and the Death Eaters found Hermione, it felt like a personal failure. The public execution of the headmaster with Hermione bound in chains next to Tom forced to watch the execution was a memory that Snape feared would be forever etched in his mind even if they were successful in fixing the past.

"Do I go back a few days early or go right to the battle?" she asked, unaware of the turmoil playing out in the mind of the man who spent years after Dumbledore's death protecting her.

It was a good question. There was much that could go wrong with either decision. "You need to know exactly what happens that day. I have nothing of substance to provide. Can you go back and observe?"

She nodded as she considered it. "I have Ha—" her voice cracked. "I have Harry's invisibility cloak."

"I think you should go there. Half past ten. Outside the Leaky Cauldron. You need to see where Tom positioned himself. Where Voldemort gained the upper hand."

"Even if I stop that day from happening. They'll try again," she said, fear laced her words.

"But others will know of the threat. Harry will still be alive and Voldemort will still be divided in his goals. I don't know that we have another choice. You can't go back and stop Tom from getting the time turner. That time doesn't exist anymore. You can try to intervene earlier. Convince Lily to stay home the day she dies. It's the same problem. Tom will try again. If you're successful and Tom lives, you'll need to stay. Stay in the past until he can be neutralized."

"Maybe you should come with me?"

It was tempting. Leave the nightmare behind. He shook his head. "I can't leave the school. The students… you… If I leave, the small protections I provide would be gone. We have to consider this is the world now. If you fail, that's it."

Hermione's arms shook as she pushed herself up. Snape stood, helped steady her. There was still so much to say. If she was successful it wouldn't matter. "There's a time turner in the ministry. I'll leave it there. In case…"

The longer he lived in that moment, the more the memories from that timeline pushed forward and became reality. The world that was, the world they knew was like a dream. He wondered if that was the case for her as well. He hoped not. "Good luck, Miss Granger."

She moved forward so quickly, for a second, Snape thought she was falling over. Her arms wrapped around him, hugged him tightly. "Thank you. For what you've done to help her."

Snape knew she was referring to the Hermione of this time. It wasn't her. And still was. She may have been severely damaged by Tom, it never stopped her from contributing what she could to the cause. If time never righted itself, Snape knew his first goal would be to relocate Hermione Granger to another country. Let her work on recovery away from the threats that loomed large. He knew the remaining Weasleys would be executed next week. The resistance was over. New Avalon was the new world. At least for Britain. Maybe it could be contained to the island. He doubted it. Releasing her, he took a step back. Watched her turn on the spot, aparating to the time chamber. Starting her journey to right the world. Snape turned on his heels and walked through the small tunnel connecting the shrieking shack to Hogwarts.

The number of students at the school had dwindled significantly. By Tom's design. Only those able to prove their lineage were permitted. Interestingly, that didn't mean they were all purebloods, such as the term was understood. His new era meant loyalty to the New Imperial Wizarding Order could overcome undesirable genealogy. Even then, there was still a fear that hummed throughout the student body. There could come, at any time, Tom's displeasure aimed at their family. Some heard about it after their parents were imprisoned. Others were collected in the middle of the night to be used against their parents. Snape had done his best to put an end to the latter. He had convinced Tom that the best way to raise a completely loyal following was to raise them from a young age. The more students admitted into the school, the more future devotees he'd have. He understood that meant a miserable school experience for the students. There were worse things in life than being miserable.

Moving silently through the halls, he was struck by how quiet it all was. There should be sounds of students blowing off steam. Laughter. Extracurricular activities. There was none of that under his administration. If students weren't in class, or the at a meal, they were all expected to be in their common rooms studying. That wasn't just to instill discipline and control. It made sure there was less likelihood of intermixing of the houses. He had bewitched the sorting hat to ensure any student who legitimately believed the nonsense Tom was peddling ended up in Slytherin. And only those students. Segregation them made them feel like they'd earned some special place and gave the other houses a chance to organize a resistance. He knew Ravenclaw was holding illicit classes teaching more realistic content from History of Magic to Charms. Gryffindor had practical DADA lessons. Hufflepuff was busy learning potions and spells the resistance would need to continue. They were segmented and thought their efforts were secret. His hand picked heads of house understood every student who participated in such activities had to be evaluated and regularly assessed to ensure they wouldn't let their secret slip or have second thoughts and confess to their parents or to Slytherin students. The minute someone appeared to regret their efforts, he would obliviate them. There were no second chances. Lives were at stake.

Entering the headmaster's private library he checked several of his spells in place to ensure the room had remained secure despite his absence. Satisfied, he added temporary protections to keep unwanted visitors out. Opening the entrance to the secret sanctuary, he saw the light was on in the potions room. A small smile tugged at his lip. She might be single-handedly supplying the resistance with critical potions. Standing in the doorway to her work room, Snape noted her cane had fallen to the floor. Something that happened often. It was an afterthought to her. Stepping inside, he leaned over, picked up the walking stick with its hand carved lion handle. Hooking it onto the edge of the bench next to her, he leaned over and noted her modified wiggenweld potion was a brilliant green. "Your concentrations are improving," he said, waved his wand to line up a series of phials.

Hermione used her own wand to cast the charm that would start an assembly line, expertly filling the bottles one at a time. It was his old wand she won in a well fought duel with him. He had felt the loyalty change. She turned and smiled at him. "We should put a warning label on this one. Make sure it's not wasted by using too much," she explained, looked for her cane on the floor and let out a small laugh when she found it hanging near her hand. Leaning heavily on it, she stood stiffly from the stool she had been perched on. Turning she got a good look at him. "You're sick," she observed his pale skin and tight features. "Do you need something?"

Snape held up his hand to stop her from giving him one of the recently bottled healing potions. "It's not an illness. Something's happened. Come sit." He hung close to her as she slowly walked toward the chairs in front of the fireplace in the larger room. She was doing an admirable job holding her tongue. He knew her brain was running through the worst case scenarios. Part of him wondered if he should even mention anything. False hope was one thing, suggesting her suffering might be reversed was something entirely different. He settled on the truth that she deserved to know what was happening. Once she was safely seated, he joined her, summoned tea for both of them. "I just met with someone."

"From the resistance?"

"Hm. In a way. There's a possibility this world Tom has created wasn't meant to be," he started cryptically.

She sat back in her seat, she dismissed him with a wave. "Albus always said that. It's a nice thought."

He didn't fault her for her pessimism. It was well earned. "I met a traveler with the ability to try to fix this all. I'm not sure she'll be successful but there's a chance."

"Well. We can't count on it. No one is going to save us. We need to save ourselves."

The new memories of the war ran through his mind. It was as if the wizarding world knew it was missing the boy who lived and kept waiting for the chosen one to show up to stop Voldemort and then Tom. By the time the resistance understood no one was coming, it was far too late. "I have a potion. I'd like to teach it to you and would let you decide if you wanted to take it."

"A new protection potion?" she asked, leaning forward again.

"Yes. For your memory."

Hermione's brows knit together. "Why would I need to protect my memory?"

"If the past changes. We'll both know."

"Why would the past change?"

Stamping down his frustration, he released his stress by acting as if he was put out. "Always with the questions."

She knew him well enough to not be put off by the tone. "Severus. I'm sorry. Tell me." She rarely used his name.

Snape took the lack of familiarity meant that he'd never replace Albus in her life. How could he? The former headmaster personally taught her everything she knew about magic. He sacrificed his life trying to protect her. Dumbledore could have ran when the Death Eaters came for him. It was summer. No one else was in the castle. No one else that anyone knew of. He stayed to protect her and that's what got them both captured. "I have been taking this potion. It protected my memories when the past changed. All of it. This really isn't meant to be. I'd like to have another person… a colleague to compare memories if time changes again."

She still looked skeptical. "Show me."

He knew what she was asking. She wanted him to share memories as proof. He wondered how wise it was to have a memory from the life she never got to live. It could give her hope. On the other hand, it could make it all worse knowing what she missed. Having learned not to underestimate her, in two timelines, he brought his wand up. It was a struggle finding the right memories to share. Not only did he have an extra two decades of conflicting history, he didn't have memories of her personal life. He settled on a memory of her in his class and the memory of the pair in her office discussing the possibilities of Tom getting the time turner. He let the memories flow from him and float to her. He didn't want them to be intrusive. Once they were shared, he sat back, let her process the implication.

"Harry…" she said the name like it meant something to her. Something she was missing but hadn't known it until that moment.

"He defeated Voldemort. Well, you and Harry and another of your unruly friends named Ron defeated him. In the correct time."

"I don't understand. When… where…"

"Speechless. That's never happened before. In either timeline. I can explain everything. I can share any memories. If you want. I just thought it was important for you to know. This isn't meant to be. Someone is trying to fix it."

"Who?"

"Hm. Who indeed," he said out loud, but to himself. Then he simply said, "You."

This was clearly not the answer she was expecting. "How is that possible? I've been stuck in here for… most of my life."

In response, he pulled out the memory potion he had in his pocket. He had expected it to disappear the moment it passed through the safe. It seemed the paradox created by its existence protected it permanently. The same reason his Hermione sitting next to him hadn't disappeared the moment the other Hermione apparated to the Shrieking Shack. "There's a room in the ministry that protected you. I don't pretend to really understand the theory. I have a similar safe that protected this potion. Under its influence, memories changed by her efforts in the past will be preserved. If you decide this is right for you, you'll need to take it every twelve hours to keep the replaced memories."

Her hand shook with a visible tremble as she plucked it from his hand. The shake in her left arm was permanent from the repeated curses she suffered. This shake had more underlying it that her disabilities. A fear or excitement. It was hard to tell. Resting the delicate crystal in the palm of her hand, she spun it slowly, allowing the light to reflect off the etchings. A tree was neatly carved in the crystal.

"It's a white popular," Snape offered. "You found the river we needed to make that potion work. You do that. You're meant to lead a department at the ministry, not be hidden away in this secret room."

"Lead a department… I don't think this is funny," she said, moving to stand, clearly hurt. "I don't know what's gotten into you." It was easy to reject his words. They sounded impossible.

His hand rested on her arm. "This isn't a joke, Hermione. How would I have those memories? You don't have to take the potion. I wanted you to have the option. So much of your life has been chosen for you. I thought you deserved to know."

Her eyes looked from his hand to the potion bottle. "This is real? What you're saying is real?"

The glassy eyes from the tears that formed nearly undid him. Self doubt filled him. If the other Hermione wasn't successful he may have made her situation that much worse. "It's real. In the other time, Tom got a time turner. He went back to 1980 and killed the person who would destroy him. A boy named Harry." He stopped short of telling her they were a couple. It wasn't important to know.

"Can you show me more?"

"If that's what you want. I can bring the pensieve down and copy whatever memories you'd like. I don't know how wise it would be to dwell on such things."

To her credit, she sat back and considered his words. "I'm supposed to lead a department? At the ministry?"

The right side of his lips curled up. "Yes. You're very intolerable. So not everything has changed."

"Do you work for me?"

Finally, he laughed. She had honed a sharp sense of humor. It was noticeably different than the other Hermione who tended to be more serious than necessary. "Sadly, no. Perhaps that's a mistake that can also be corrected."

She was quiet, her eyes focused on the flames in the fireplace. "Can I think about the pensieve? Maybe after I've had time to think."

He held his hands out and stood. "You need only ask. I need to check in with the resistance. We're not sure if we can recover from the recent raid. Don't stay up too late. You know you feel better if you let your body rest." Snape left her in her chair and headed for his office. It was a dangerous line he walked in this world. It wasn't just his life that depended on his ability to stay in Tom's good graces. He didn't see a way to save the Weasleys. That didn't mean he wouldn't try.